This invention relates to music synthesizers, and more particularly to an electronic music synthesizer capable of synthesizing the sounds of percussion instruments.
Over the years, many electronic music instruments have been developed which generate sound entirely by electronic means. These devices, generally categorized as music synthesizers, generate electronic signals which are shaped and blended together to create different types of waveforms which can be amplified and played through conventional speakers to create different types of sounds.
Many of these prior art music synthesizers employ a keyboard for entering the musical notes to be synthesized. A variety of controls may also be provided to cause the synthesizer to play predetermined rhythm patterns. Generally, the musical notes entered using the keyboard produce sounds simulating a keyboard controlled musical instrument such as a piano or an organ. The predetermined rhythm patterns, on the other hand, may be designed to produce sounds simulating percussion musical instruments such as drums. The tempo of the synthesized music is usually established by playing one of the predetermined rhythm patterns as background music and by adjusting the speed of the rhythm pattern using a tempo control. The user then plays the keyboard notes in time to the preset rhythm tempo. The musical notes and rhythm patterns are usually all played at the same amplitude which is adjusted using a volume control. A typical music synthesizer of the type described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,155, issued Oct. 7, 1980, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
In recent years, music synthesizers have been developed which are capable of recording the musical notes played. The user may then play back the recorded notes in the form of a tune. To record a new tune, it is generally necessary to erase the tune previously recorded
Because of the manner in which percussion instruments (such as drums and cymbals) are played, many prior art music synthesizers do not accurately synthesize such instruments. For example, a musician generally develops percussion rhythms one beat at a time and then interleaves several of these rhythms together to produce musical phrases. The beat of one of these rhythms is usually used to establish the tempo of the succeeding rhythms. The musician may also alter the amplitude of each percussion beat. The amplitude of each beat is generally controlled by the amount of force used to strike the instrument surface. The ability to alter the amplitude of each beat enables the musician to enhance the tonal quality of the music.
Generally, prior art synthesizers capable of recording musical notes cannot be used to develop percussion rhythms in the same manner as they are developed using a conventional percussion instrument. This is so because these prior art synthesizers generally do not include a surface which may be struck in the manner of a percussion instrument to produce a percussion beat. Many prior art synthesizers are only capable of recording one rhythm at a time, so they cannot be used to interleave a plurality of previously developed rhythms with newly developed rhythms. Further, prior art synthesizers generally do not have the ability to vary the amplitude of individual percussion beats.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to prove a new and improved electronic percussion synthesizer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved structure for a percussion synthesizer which reduces the degree of interaction between multiple percussion transducers.